Page 26 of Soul Bound (Cursed Descent (MistHallow Academy) #2)

26

MATILDA

Slamming my notebook down on the desk in my room, I stare at the blank page. Chaos crawls onto the top of my head, but I ignore him and wear him like a hat because fuck it. Why not?

It’s time to get organised. Somewhere in all this mess of information, there’s a pattern I’m missing.

“Okay,” I mutter, picking up my pen. “Let’s start with what we know.”

I draw a circle in the middle of the page and write “First Guardian” inside it. From there, I start branching out:

·Needs a vessel

·Burns through hosts

·Connected to Praxian magick

·Trapped by other Guardians

·Female (unlike others)

·Appears in mist form

I tap my pen against the page, thinking. The gender difference seems significant. Why was she the only female Guardian?

Drawing another circle, I write “Chris” and start connecting threads:

·Gave pendant to family

·Tried to impregnate me

·Guardian #2/3/4?

·Friend of brother’s

· Access to the outside world until bound by a curse

He started coming around when I was ten. Eleven years ago. The same time I started wearing the pendant. So that makes it clear as day that he is behind the pendant.

But why wait eight years before making his move? Unless...

I draw a third circle: “Family”, and stare at it for a long moment before adding:

·Knew about pendant

·Suppressed/syphoned magick

·Connected to Chris

·Connected to Madeline

· Druid bloodline - skipped them and not me.

“Something’s missing,” I say to Chaos, who chirps in agreement. “The timeline doesn’t make sense. If Chris gave them the pendant when I was ten, why didn’t they just hand me over then? Why wait?”

I’ve already figured out that Chris was syphoning my magick so he could use it, but why did he disappear without taking me with him? If it was his intention to come back to MistHallow and go underground, which is when he got trapped there, why did he leave me behind to begin with? Even more so when he told me he would save me from my family and help me escape. It doesn’t make sense, and until I figure this shit out, it’s going to bug me. It has to mean something.

I lean back in my chair, absently scratching Chaos’s fur as he shifts on my head. The timing of everything feels deliberate and calculated.

“Hold on,” I mutter, sitting up straighter. Chaos slides forward slightly but manages to keep his balance. Something about the ritual chamber nags at my memory. That altar wasn’t just any altar. It had been prepared specifically for blood magick. Vex said so.

I pull out the ancient book, its symbols shifting and wriggling across the pages. I can’t read them exactly, but I can feel what they’re trying to tell me. Like music without words, the meaning comes through in waves of understanding.

The patterns remind me of the ones in the ritual chamber. The same curves, the same flow of power. Power that seems to respond differently now that I’ve been with the guys.

I add another circle to my diagram: “Ritual Chamber.”

·Ancient altar

·Blood magick

· Connected to First Guardian for baby-making

· Chris was trapped after using me at the wrong time and wrong place.

Chris thinking with his dick and not his brain, messed up the ritual. It should’ve been on the altar with me as a virgin. But he took that in my bedroom at home, probably thinking it would get me to trust him and fall harder for him. It did, stupid na?ve me, but he didn’t realise that I had to be a virgin for the ritual to work. That’s why fate, maybe, intervened, and I didn’t get pregnant. It was all wrong. The entire thing was just… wrong.

But that still doesn’t explain why my family didn’t just hand me over to begin with.

I grab another piece of paper drawing a timeline:

Age 10 - Got pendant, Chris appears

Age 18 - Lost virginity to Chris, he disappears/got trapped

Age 21 - Now

The pendant had been syphoning my power for eleven years. Eleven. The number hits me in the face. Literally.

The ancient journal flies up and smacks me hard on the nose.

“Ow, you bastard. What?”

I pick up the book, which lands on the sprawled-out paper open to a page filled with numbers. It’s right at the back of the book, etched in different magick. Newer, but still old as dirt. I trace my finger over it and close my eyes. The drawings echo in my mind: number 11 is a master number, which means it has a higher level of spiritual significance than other numbers. It’s considered a symbol of the connection between the physical and spiritual realms.

Opening my eyes, I chew my lip. I was born on the 11th of November. 11/11. Eleven years between the pendant and now. Eleven years of syphoning off my power.

Chaos shifts on my head as I lean forward again, adding another note under “First Guardian”:

·Connected to number 11?

· Does power peak at 11 o’clock?

That is something I don’t know, but I’m going to test it. Glancing at the clock, I see I have to wait until 11PM tonight, but that’s fine. I will go to the forest and see if this is something real or if I’m reaching. Then, I blink. Eleven. 11th February is fast approaching with how the days are just flying by. This is all culminating into something, but we have no idea when. It’s all shots in the dark right now.

I flip through the ancient book again, letting my fingers trace the shifting symbols. They feel different now, more alive under my touch. Something about the way the symbols move reminds me of the mist form the First Guardian takes. The same fluid, ever-changing pattern.

“Oh, fuck,” I whisper, making Chaos’s ears perk up. “It wasn’t Chris who was using the power. It was her. Whatever her fucking name is. The First Guardian. This proves that Chris was working with her, not against her. At least in recent times. It sounds like Night was as well. Or is he Stryker? I don’t know which was his original form. He has skin in this game as well, and it wasn’t just because he is a cruel arsehole. He went to my house to make sure I was still wearing the pendant? Still syphoning off my magick to her. The abuse was just his twisted idea of how to pass the time. So that leaves Xanthos. We know he was still underground and hadn’t left by the looks of it. Doesn’t mean he didn’t, but for now, we’ll assume his bedraggled self was still underground all this time. So, is he working against the First? It makes no sense if they all suddenly decided to change their minds about her. They cursed her in the earth with the magick for a reason. Because they didn’t want her taking the magick and ruling the world, or whatever her nefarious plans were-slash-are. So, she had my magick up to the point when I took the pendant off. Now she is pissed off because she isn’t getting her fix. Was she controlling the other two Guardians? If so, why not Xanthos?

“Rah!” I shout suddenly, making Chaos jump a mile with a loud screech. He lands on my desk and glares up at me, baring his teeth.

“Oh, please. You don’t scare me,” I say with narrowed eyes.

He hisses and then shrugs, curling up on the book and going promptly to sleep.

I now have more questions than answers, and this is now a rabbit hole that is never freaking ending.

Deciding to hash this out with the guys, I stuff my notes in my bag and head downstairs. I pause to see if I can sense them, and a small tendril of familiarity reaches out to me, drawing me across the grounds to find the guys.

It leads me away from the main building to an isolated classroom where it appears Vex is teaching Draven and Luc Master Dark Magick, judging from the chilling hexes flying around the room. I knock loudly and shout out, “It’s Matilda!”

The magick dies down, and Vex opens the door. “Good thing you waited, sprinkles. That was some serious Hell-ish magick.”

Luc snickers. “Not sorry. You deserved it, asshole.”

“I’m not even going to ask. Look, I think I found something. Can we talk?”

“Always,” Vex says, letting me pass and closing the door behind me.

“What have you got?” Draven asks, coming closer.

Pulling out my notes, I say, “It’s about the number eleven. And before you roll your eyes, hear me out.” I spread the papers across the desk, covering whatever dark artefacts they’ve been studying. “Look at this. I was born on 11/11, the pendant was on me for eleven years, and eleven is a master number in magick. It’s a gateway between physical and spiritual realms.”

“That’s not completely idiotic,” Draven says. “Luc and I were born on the 11th of November as well.”

My mouth goes dry. “Oh?”

“Same,” Vex says. “So what is this significance? We are drawn to each other by date of birth? It’s not the first time I’ve heard of it. Powerful magickal families often share the same birth dates. There is this case in another realm, way off the spectrum, which is a whacked-out version of the mortal realm with its own little sub-realms, where this was proven to be part of some big prophecy which elevated the focal point into a position of extreme power.”

“Focal point?”

“A woman named Aefre. It is a long and complicated story for another time. I was making a point, not digressing. Continue.”

“Okay, fair enough. I think there might be a connection to the time as well, like all the elevens out there. I want to test if my power peaks then. So we can practise from ten, and then when eleven strikes, see if anything changes.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Luc drawls.

“I also found something that will be of note in this instance,” Vex says, pulling out his hand notebook. “The 11th of February is coming up, which is possibly when the stars align.”

“How do you know that?” I ask, when the date gives me a shot of adrenaline.

“I ran a magickal programme to map the changes in the stars over the centuries.”

“You can do that?” I ask in surprise and admiration.

“Sort of. It wasn’t easy, and I owe some nasty people some favours, but it was worth it. Look.”

“And when did you do this?” Luc asks, giving him a filthy glare.

“While you idiots were in class earlier before we met with Blackthorn in the library.”

“You didn’t think to involve us?” Draven gripes.

“What was the point? Do you know how to run black magick analysis programmes?”

“No,” he grouses.

“Then shut your mouth and focus.”

“Black magick?” I croak. “Vex…”

“We need information. Luke can kick my arse over it if he wants to, but I doubt he will. He wants this figured out as much as we do.”

Hesitating, I eventually nod. He’s right, and this is good information.

“Okay, so this can’t all be coincidence. Four creatures born on 11/11, all drawn together right before a major celestial event on the 11th of February.”

Luc, who’s been unusually quiet, finally speaks up. “Fair enough. So we train at ten and then see if shit hits the fan at eleven.”

“That’s the plan. Meet in the forest? We need to know if this has any significance.”

“Agreed,” Vex says. “But we do this carefully. If your power does spike, it could draw unwanted attention.”

I nod, gathering my notes. “We should probably tell Big B.”

“He already called him by his name,” Luc points accusingly to Vex. “He probably already knows what we’re planning.”

“We’ll be there,” Draven says, ignoring Luc, his eyes meeting mine with an intensity that makes my breath catch. “For now, go and eat and rest up. We’ll see you later.”